Method and system for providing an antenna that is optimized for near-field-communication (nfc) and reduces the effect of far-field-communication (ffc)

ABSTRACT

A communication system may include a first broadband device and a second broadband device. Signals may be wirelessly communicated from the first broadband device to the second broadband device at a power level that is below a spurious emissions mask. The communicated signals may be transmitted over a designated frequency band. A barrier separates the first broadband device from the second broadband device. The first broadband device may be paired with the second broadband device, and the signals may be wirelessly communicated from the first to the second broadband device. The signals may be communicated using signal emitting/receiving components, which may be jointly configured to optimize near-field communication while nullifying or substantially reducing signaling in other ranges, particularly far-field or intermediate-field ranges. The signal emitting/receiving components may comprise dipole or coil antennas, with the desired optimization and nullification being achieved based on controlling of electromagnetic fields.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This patent application makes reference to, claims priority to, andclaims benefit from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/620,727,which was filed on Apr. 5, 2012.

This application also makes reference to:

U.S. application Ser. No. 13/687,676, entitled “Method and System forMonitoring, Management and Maintenance of an Internet Protocol LNB,”which was filed on Nov. 28, 2012;U.S. application Ser. No. 13/723,897, entitled “Method and System forBroadband Near Field Communication Utilizing Full Spectrum Capture,”which was filed on Dec. 21, 2012;U.S. application Ser. No. 13/726,965, entitled “Method and System forBroadband Near-field Communication (BNC) Utilizing Full Spectrum Capture(FSC) Supporting Bridging Across Walls,” which was filed on Dec. 26,2012; andU.S. application Ser. No. 13/726,994, entitled “Method and System forBroadband Near-field Communication (BNC) Utilizing Full Spectrum Capture(FSC) Supporting Concurrent Charging and Communication,” which was filedon Dec. 26, 2012.

Each of the above reference applications is hereby incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication systems.More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to amethod and system for providing an antenna that is optimized fornear-field-communication (NFC) and reduces the effect offar-field-communication (FFC).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Near-Field Communication (NFC) is a new short-range, standards-basedwireless connectivity technology that uses magnetic field induction toenable communication between electronic devices in close proximity.Based on radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, NFCprovides a medium for the identification protocols that validate securedata transfer. NFC enables users to perform intuitive, safe, contactlesstransactions, access digital content and connect electronic devicessimply by touching or bringing devices into close proximity.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and/or system for providing an antenna that is optimized fornear-field-communication (NFC) and reduces the effect offar-field-communication (FFC), substantially as shown in and/ordescribed in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forthmore completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates an example communication system,such as a broadband near-field communication (BNC) system that utilizesfull spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram that illustrates an example device thatperforms, for example, broadband near-field communication (BNC)utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram that illustrates an example Communicationutilizing a full spectrum capture dongle, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates an example controller, suchas a broadband near-field communication (BNC) controller for example,utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates an example implementation fora controller, such as a broadband near-field communication (BNC)controller for example, that utilizes a tunable notch filter in areceive path with full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with anexample embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 a chart that illustrates example distance-based pairing scheme ofdevices, such as BNC/FSC devices for example, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates example steps for devicepairing and security in broadband near-field communication (BNC)utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example use of dongles,such as BNC/FSC dongles for example, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates example steps for optimallyinstalling two companion dongles, such as BNC/FSC dongles for example,in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram that illustrates varying of attenuation ofsignals passing through different barriers, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram that illustrates use of dipole antennas thatare configured to provide optimized near-field-communication (NFC) whilereducing the effect of far-field-communication (FFC) for broadbandnear-field communication (BNC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 10B is a block diagram that illustrates use of coil based antennasconfigured to provide optimized near-field-communication (NFC) whilereducing the effect of far-field-communication (FFC) for broadbandnear-field communication (BNC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart that illustrates example steps for configuringand utilizing signal emitter/reception components that optimizenear-field-communication (NFC) while reducing effect offar-field-communication (FFC), in accordance with an example embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As utilized herein, “and/or” means any one or more of the items in thelist joined by “and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any elementof the three-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y,and/or z” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x,y), (x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary”means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. Asutilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example” set off lists ofone or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. Asutilized herein, circuitry is “operable” to perform a function wheneverthe circuitry comprises the necessary hardware and code (if any isnecessary) to perform the function, regardless of whether performance ofthe function is disabled, or not enabled, by some user-configurablesetting.

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor providing an antenna that is optimized for near-field-communication(NFC) and reduces the effect of far-field-communication (FFC). Inaccordance with various embodiments of the invention, a communicationsystem may comprise a first broadband device and a second broadbanddevice. Signals may be communicated from the first broadband device tothe second broadband device at a power level that is below a spuriousemissions mask, over a designated frequency band. The signals may bewirelessly communicated from the first broadband device to the secondbroadband device across a barrier that separates the first broadbanddevice from the second broadband device. In this regard, to support thewireless communication of the signals across the barrier, a signaltransmission component of the first broadband device and a signalreception component of the second broadband device are jointlyconfigured to nullify or reduce signals in areas other than a regionbetween the components. Each of the signal transmission component of thefirst broadband device and the signal reception component of the secondbroadband device comprise one or more antennas or coils. In this regard,the antennas or coils of each of the signal transmission component ofthe first broadband device and the signal reception component of thesecond broadband device may be configured and/or used to nullify orreduce the signals in the areas other than the region between thecomponents, such as by optimizing electromagnetic fields in the regionbetween the antennas or coils of the signal transmission component ofthe first broadband device and the antennas or coils of the signalreception component of the second broadband device and nullifyingelectromagnetic field in other regions. The electromagnetic fieldsbetween the antennas or coils of the signal transmission component ofthe first broadband device and the antennas or coils of the signalreception component of the second broadband device may be configured toreinforce each other (the fields) to create a near field effect. Thefirst broadband device may be paired with the second broadband device.Usable channels may be detected within a frequency spectrum banddesignated for use by the first and the second broadband device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates an example broadband near-fieldcommunication (BNC) system that utilizes full spectrum capture (FSC), inaccordance with an example embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 1, there is shown a communication system 100 comprising a pluralityof devices 110(a) through 110(d), and associated communication networks122 through 126. The communication system 100 may be, for example, a BNCsystem and the devices 110(a) through 110(d) may be, for example,BNC/FSC enabled.

A BNC/FSC enabled device such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 110(a) maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may beoperable to perform broadband near-field communication (BNC) with otherBNC/FSC enabled devices. In this regard, the BNC/FSC enabled device110(a) may exchange or communicate various types of information such as,for example, telephone numbers, pictures, multimedia content and filessuch as MP3 files, and/or digital authorizations with other BNC/FSCenabled devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b) and 110(c).In one example embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC dongle 110(d)may enable wireless communication across a barrier such as a dwellingwall.

For data transmission with BNC, a BNC enabled device that initiates thedata transmission refers to a polling device (initiator), while a BNCenabled device that is targeted by the polling device refers to alistening device. A BNC enabled device such as the BNC/FSC enableddevice 110(a) may operate in a reader/writer mode (active mode), a cardemulation mode (passive mode), or a peer-to-peer mode. In active mode,the BNC/FSC enabled device 110(a) is active and reads or writes to apassive legacy RFID tag. In passive mode, the BNC/FSC enabled device110(a) behaves like an existing contactless card conforming to one ofthe legacy standards. In peer-to-peer mode, the BNC/FSC enabled device110(a) and its peer BNC enabled device such as the BNC/FSC enableddevice 110(b) may exchange or communicate information. In this regard,the initiator device (polling device) may require less power compared tothe reader/writer mode. Depending on device capacities, the BNC/FSCenabled devices 110(a)-110(d) may coexist with or support other wirelesstechnologies such as, for example, ZigBee, Bluetooth, WLAN, and WiMax.In this regard, the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b) and 110(c) mayoperate in various spectrum bands. For example, with ZigBee enabled, theBNC/FSC enabled devices 110(a)-110(c) may operate in 868 MHz, 915 MHz or2.4 GHz frequency bands. With Bluetooth enabled, the BNC/FSC enableddevices 110(b), 110(c) and 110(d) may operate within the 2.4 GHz band.With WLAN enabled, the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b), 110(c) and 110(d)may operate within the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. With fixedWiMAX enabled, the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b), 110(c) and 110(d) mayoperate in the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz frequency bands, which require alicense, as well as the license-free 5.8 GHz band. With mobile WiMAXenabled, the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b), 110(c) and 110(d) mayoperate in the 2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.7 GHz, 3.3-3.4 GHz and 3.4-3.8 GHzfrequency bands.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC enabled device110(a) may be operable to utilize full-spectrum capture (FSC) technologyto meet the challenging demands of operators, consumers, and hardwarevendors while providing efficient scalability for future development. Inthis regard, the BNC/FSC enabled device 110(a) may be operable todigitize all, or substantially all, of the spectrum covered by theprotocol(s) of interest, such that all, or substantially all, channelsof the protocol(s) are concurrently digitized and available for furtherprocessing The BNC/FSC enabled device 110(a) may utilize BNC togetherwith full spectrum capture to provide BNC/FSC hybrid solutions forproliferating data or content delivery and services throughout the homeand to connected devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b),110(c) and 110(d). Aspects of full spectrum capture may be found in U.S.application Ser. No. 13/485,003 filed May 31, 2012, U.S. applicationSer. No. 13/336,451 filed on Dec. 23, 2011 and U.S. Application61/532,098 filed Sep. 7, 2011. Each of these applications is herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In accordance with anexample embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC dongle 110(d) mayprovide wireless bridging across a barrier such as walls or otherobstructions within a building.

The ZigBee network 122 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code,and/or interfaces that may be operable to provide data services tovarious ZigBee-based devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(a),110(c) and 110(d) using ZigBee technology. ZigBee is a standard thatdefines a set of communication protocols on top of the IEEE 802.15.4Radio Protocol for low-data-rate short-range wireless networking. Forexample, the ZigBee network 122 may incorporate ZigBee radios to operateat 1 mW RF power and to go to sleep when not involved in transmission soas to minimize power consumption and promote long battery life inbattery-powered devices.

The Bluetooth network 124 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide data services tovarious Bluetooth-based mobile devices such as the BNC/FSC enableddevices 110 a, 110(b), 110(c) and/or 110(d) using Bluetooth technology.A Bluetooth-based mobile device such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 110 amay be operable to communicate Bluetooth radio frequency signals withpeer Bluetooth devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(b),110(c) and 110(d) for various data services such as SMS/MMS and mobileTV.

The WiFi network 126 may comprise suitable logic, devices, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to provide data services to variousmobile devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled devices 110(a), 110(c) and110(d) by using WiFi technology. A WiFi-based mobile device such as theBNC/FSC enabled device 110 a may be operable to communicate WiFi radiofrequency signals with peer WiFi devices such as the BNC/FSC enableddevices 110(b), 110(c) and 110(d) for various data services such asSMS/MMS and mobile TV.

In operation, the BNC/FSC devices 110(a), 110(c), and 110(d) may provideBNC/FSC hybrid solutions for signal or data transmission at powerdensities through associated communication networks such as theBluetooth network 124. To support the data transmission with BNC, theBNC/FSC enabled devices 110(a), 110(c) and 110(d) may be configured toutilize full spectrum capture in order to detect usable channels andaggregate the usable channels to increase channel bandwidth for the datatransmission. In one example embodiment of the invention, fortransmission, the data transmission may be carried or transmitted over asingle channel within the operating spectrum band. However, forreception, multiple reference elements or signals such as pilot signalsmay be utilized to determine or detect which of channels in theoperating spectrum band may be indeed usable.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram that illustrates an example device thatperforms, for example, broadband near-field communication (BNC)utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2A, there is shown adevice 200 comprising a transceiver 210, a Bluetooth transceiver 220, aWiFi transceiver 230, a processor 240, and a memory 250. The Bluetoothtransceiver 220 and the WiFi transceiver 230 may be optional dependingon device capabilities, network availabilities and/or user preferences.In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, device 200may comprise a BNC/FSC dongle and the transceiver may be a BNC/FSCtransceiver 210. FIG. 2B illustrates an example dongle.

The BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may allow the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 andother BNC capable devices to perform communication according to an BNCprotocol. The BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may operate in a reader/writermode (active mode), a card emulation mode (passive mode), or apeer-to-peer mode. In active mode, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may actlike contactless cards. In this regard, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 mayenable the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 being used for payment. In passivemode, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may enable interacting with RF tags.For example, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may enable the BNC/FSC enableddevice 200 used to read ‘Smart Posters’ (writer RF tags) to see whateverinformation has been included. In peer-to-peer mode, the BNC/FSCtransceiver 210 may be operable to communicate with another BNC capabledevices. For example, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may enable the BNC/FSCenabled device 200 to communicate information with other BNC/FSC enableddevices 110(a)-110(c). In an example embodiment of the invention, theBNC/FSC transceiver 210 may utilize a dedicated RF front-end circuitryfor data transmission and receiving using BNC. In another exampleembodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may share a RFfront-end circuitry with other technology-based transceivers such as theBluetooth transceiver 220 and the WiFi transceiver 230. In yet anotherexample embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may beconfigured to communicate signals or data in BNC utilizing full spectrumcapture. In this regard, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may be allowed tocapture or utilize the entire spectrum band for data or signaltransmission and receiving. For transmission, the BNC/FSC transceiver210 may be instructed or signaled to utilize a single channel within thespectrum band. For reception, the BNC 210 may be configured to utilizeone or more channels within the entire spectrum band.

The Bluetooth transceiver 220 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate Bluetoothradio signals over the Bluetooth network 124. In an example embodimentof the invention, the Bluetooth transceiver 220 may be on continuouslywhen needed and may utilize more power than full spectrum capture. TheBluetooth transceiver 220 may be enabled to support coexistenceoperations so as to receive Bluetooth signals while utilizing fullspectrum capture in the BNC/FSC enabled device 200. In an exampleembodiment of the invention, the Bluetooth transceiver 220 may utilize adedicated RF front-end circuitry for data transmission and receivingusing Bluetooth. In another example embodiment of the invention, theBluetooth transceiver 220 may share a RF front-end circuitry with theBNC/FSC transceiver 210 for data transmission and receiving usingBluetooth. In an example embodiment of the invention, in some instances,the Bluetooth transceiver 220 may be securely paired with otherBluetooth and BNC capable devices utilizing BNC. In this regard, theBNC/FSC transceiver 210 may be enabled to exchange authenticationinformation over an BNC link for pairing the Bluetooth transceiver 220with other Bluetooth and BNC capable devices.

The WiFi transceiver 230 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate WiFi radiosignals over the WiFi network 126. In an example embodiment of theinvention, the WiFi transceiver 230 may be on continuously when neededand may utilize more power than full spectrum capture. The WiFitransceiver 230 may be enabled to support coexistence operations so asto receive WiFi signals while utilizing full spectrum capture in theBNC/FSC enabled device 200. In an example embodiment of the invention,the WiFi transceiver 230 may utilize a dedicated RF front-end circuitryfor data transmission and reception using WiFi. In another exampleembodiment of the invention, the WiFi transceiver 230 may share a RFfront-end circuitry with the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 for datatransmission and receiving using WiFi.

The processor 240 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be enabled to perform a variety of signalprocessing tasks such as channel selection or filtering, digitalscaling, rate conversion, carrier/time synchronization/recovery,equalization/demapping, and/or channel decoding. The processor 240 maysupport various modem operations such as OFDM and CDMA operations. Theprocessor 240 may be operable to coordinate and control operations ofthe BNC/FSC transceiver 210, the Bluetooth transceiver 220, and the WiFitransceiver 230 to communicate corresponding radio signals whileutilizing full spectrum capture. For example, the processor 240 maymanage, activate or deactivate the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 according toreceived Bluetooth signals via the Bluetooth transceiver 220. Theprocessor 240 may also be operable to synchronize the operation of theBNC/FSC transceiver 210 and the Bluetooth transceiver 220, for example,so as to reduce time delay for accurately determining the location of anobject of interest. In an example embodiment of the invention, theprocessor 240 may be operable to manage data transmission as well asdata reception. For transmission, the processor 240 may be operable toselect or utilize a single channel within the operation spectrum bandfor data transmission. For reception, the processor 240 may be operableto utilize multiple reference elements or signals such as pilot signalsto determine or detect which of the channels in the operation spectrumband may be indeed usable. The processor 240 may also be operable toaggregate the usable channels to increase channel bandwidth for the datatransmission.

In various example embodiments of the invention, the processor 240 mayenable configuration of the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 to operate indifferent communication environments. In this regard, for example,power, distance and bandwidth may be configured in order to stay withinthe FCC masks and limits and at the same time, provide optimalperformance across the entire bandwidth.

For FCC requirements, power may be measured in a 120 KHz spectrumbandwidth. To determine how much power could be transmitted, thebandwidth available has to be determined. Once the bandwidth isdetermined, that value may be divided by 120 KHz and the resultsmultiplied by the power that may be transmitted. For example, within thebroadcast television frequency band, spurious radiation within a 120 kHzbandwidth must result in field strength of 200 microvolts per meter orless, measured at a distance of 3 meters from an isotropic radiator.This field strength equates to a transmitted power of 0.01 microwatts(−50 dBm) of power radiating isotropically. If a bandwidth much largerthan 120 kHz is utilized, the FCC requirements imply that much morepower may be transmitted without transgressing limits on spuriousemissions. For example, if a devices transmits its power over a 100 MHzbandwidth, then dividing this 100 MHz bandwidth by the measurementbandwidth of 120 KHz results in a 29 dB increase in allowable spuriousemission levels. In order to stay well within the FCC limitations forspurious emissions, a device may be designed to transmit −50 dBm spreadover a full gigahertz (GHz) of bandwidth, which is 39 dB below the FCCspurious radiation power spectral density limitations. With such aconservative estimate, the FCC may not possibly complain and consumerproduct manufacturers may have no issues or have any questions aboutwhether the product may pass the FCC regulation.

Although −50 dBm may seem like very little power, using full spectrumcapture may enable a wealth of applications. At this power level,several bits per second per hertz may be reliably conveyed across adistance of about 10 cm, equating to several gigabits per second ofcapacity if the entire television spectrum up to 1 GHz is employed. Ifthe −50 dBm transmitted power is spread over a subset of the televisionspectrum (e.g., 200 to 600 MHz), there is a low likelihood ofinterference with any device 3 meters or farther away.

When broadband near-field communication is employed at a distance lessthan a wavelength, then attenuation improves nonlinearly as distancedecreases linearly.

The processor 240 may establish a high data rate communication linkutilizing BNC which transmits power levels 30 dB or more below spuriousemission levels permitted by FCC, while maintaining a link budget withsufficient margin to address a variety of use cases, trading off datarate for transmission distance or barrier penetrating capabilities. Onemethod of implementing this tradeoff is to use spread spectrumtechniques to achieve spreading gain in exchange for throughput, such asis employed in CDMA systems. With a 30 dB margin, signals may, forexample, be communicated through a typical non-load-bearing concretewall.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the processor 240 may enablethe use of a channel or spectrum map to dynamically track in real-time,what frequencies in the channel band are usable. For example, theenvironment may be sensed and a channel map may be generated to identifyTV, Bluetooth, WiMax, and 802.11 channels and the status of theidentified channels noted. The channels that are not currently usable,for example above a certain noise threshold, will be avoided. Thechannel map is dynamically updated. In an example embodiment of theinvention, a broadband OFDM receiver may be utilized to capture theentire band and selectively begin to transmit on those channels that aredeemed suitable (e.g., based on the channel map) for transmission. Sincethe two devices (Tx and Rx) are relatively close to each other, it maybe safe to assume that both devices (Tx and Rx) are experiencing similarRF related conditions. In this regard, the transmitter may transmitwithout coordination of frequencies between the two devices. In oneexample embodiment of the invention, a pool of backup channels may bemaintained and as soon as a current channel degrades, a switch may bemade to utilize the backup channels. Channels may be allocated from thepool of backup channels and de-allocated and placed back in the pool asneeded. In an example embodiment of the invention, in instances wherethe BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may coexist with an 802.11 device, theBNC/FSC enabled device 200 may be operable to sense the channel andtransmit only on channels that are determined to be clear. The channelmap may be continuously updated to ensure that the status of each of thechannels is up-to-date. A weighting may also be applied to the channel.

In one example embodiment of the invention, a plurality of users, eachwith their own spreading code, may concurrently transmit over a largebandwidth without any blocking. A receiver may capture the entirebandwidth and based on security settings, may select and listen to onlythose authorized user signals that may be of interest.

In one example embodiment of the invention, the processor 240 may enablebroadcast feature based distance. For example, the characteristics of aroom such as the size and openness may be sensed and the power, datarate, and range for the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may be adjusted toconform with the sensed characteristics. The BNC/FSC enabled device 200may be configured to communicate based on some threshold distance thatis sensed. In some instances, it may be desirable for all conferenceparticipants in a conference room to receive information for apresentation. In this regard, the presenter does not care who receives abroadcast signal of the presentation so long as they are within acertain range, in this case, in the room. For example, all theconference participants may be within a perimeter of 15 feet. Thebroadcast is therefore controlled so that the content for thepresentation is broadcasted to the conference participants within theconference room. In addition, beamforming and MIMO may be employed todetermine the characteristics and to optimize communication amongst thedevices.

In one example embodiment of the invention, the processor 240 mayprovide or enable security by turning down the transmit power of theBNC/FSC enabled device 200 in order to minimize eavesdropping. In suchinstances, the containment of the power enables only devices within acertain range to receive signals and devices that are outside that rangewill not be able to receive signals. A lookup table (LUT), for example,comprising power and distance or range data may be utilized by theprocessor 240 or other device within the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 tocontrol this security feature.

In another example embodiment of the invention, the processor 240 mayprovide or enable security by ensuring that the processing time is lessthan the round trip delay in order to prevent spoofing. In this regard,the processor 240 or other device within the BNC/FSC enabled device 200may be operable to determine the round trip delay. If the determinedround trip delay is less than or equal to a certain value or threshold,communication may be permitted. However, in instances where the roundtrip delay may be greater than a particular value or threshold,communication may be blocked since this may be an indication thatspoofing may have occurred.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a conference presenter maywalk into a conference room and provide information such as the size ofthe room and the number of participants. This information may beutilized by the processor 240 to control the power and range that may beutilized to configure the BNC/FSC transceiver for use during theconference or other group presentations. In this manner, device screensand files, for example, may be shared amongst conference or groupparticipant devices.

In another aspect of the invention, a map of conference attendees in theroom may be presented and the conference may manually authorize eachattendee to receive BNC/FSC presented information.

In various example embodiments of the invention, the processor 240 mayenable sharing of a screen for a cell phone or other communicationdevice with other people in a room. While applications such as WebEx aretied to the Web, various example embodiments of the instant inventioncomprise ad-hoc sharing of content, and control and manipulation ofcontent displayed on a screen. In this regard, there is no need for asophisticated backend server to facilitate the Web sharing service.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a conference presenter mayutilize BNC/FSC to share the information displayed on their tablet orcell phone screen with all team members in a conference room, eitherdirectly or in a daisy-chain manner. In this regard, the contentdisplayed on the presenter's desktop on the cell phone or a tablet willbe displayed on the screens of team members in an ad-hoc manner.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a user may decide to take apicture and instead of showing it to a friend and emailing or textingthe picture to that friend, the user may decide to share the screen thatdisplays the picture content. Unlike Webex or other screen sharingmethods, the processor 240 may enable sharing of the screens on asmartphone or tablet without using the 3G network or Internet.Additionally, no wires need to be connected for sharing of content amongdevices.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the processor 240 may managecontent for the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 such that the content may belayered and when a user is within certain proximity of another BNC/FSCdevice, the display may be shared without the need for any security.Both devices may concurrently display the same content. A profile may beutilized to determine what is to be shared and with whom it should beshared and when. A profile may also indicate other criteria such as timeof day and location where sharing of the screen is permissible. Once theprofile or some default settings are established, then the sharing ofthe display may occur automatically without user intervention.

Since the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may be a Location Aware and ContextAware device, the processor 240 may be configured to determine whetherthe environment is a friendly one and if so, no security may beutilized. On the other hand, if it determined that the environment isunfriendly, then security may be required before screens are shared. Ifthe user is with family or friends, then the screen may be sharedwithout security with devices that are within a certain range. Fordevices outside of that range, then security is required to share thescreen. A secure sharing session may be initiated with any device withthe proper security keys (public keys and private keys) or procedures inplace. A user may initiate sharing of their screen with all deviceswithin 10 feet without security. This may occur since there is enoughbandwidth to resolve the distance to within a foot or less. The distancemay be extended if the user thinks that only trusted devices will bewithin that extended range. In some instances, the user may only allow acertain number of devices to share the screen. Once that number isreached, then no more connections or sharing sessions are permitted. Ifanother device attempts to view the displayed screen, then that attemptis denied. This may be referred to as proximity sharing. With proximitysharing, the processor 240 may or may not place restriction on whetherthe screen or file may be copied and/or edited. For example, ininstances where a file of a memo is being shared, group editing may beenabled for some or all the members in the group. Members in the groupmay be given control of the document at different times to enableediting. This may also be utilized on a social environment. For example,one user may draw on their device screen and the drawing on that screenis shared among friends in the room. The friends may interact with thedrawing and may edit the document so it becomes a conversational piece.

In addition to sharing screens, videos, presentations, the processor 240may allow that files may also be shared in an ad-hoc manner without theneed to use the WWAN cellular network or a WiFi network, therebyeliminating the need to utilize and cause congestion on these networks.The cellular service providers may embrace this since it may offloadtraffic from their networks. This autonomous sharing requires noconfiguration on the part of the users.

The memory 250 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may enable storage of data and/or other information utilizedby the processor 240. For example, the memory 250 may be utilized tostore information such as available operation spectrum bands that theBNC/FSC enabled device 200 may operate, and channels in the availableoperation spectrum bands. The memory 250 may be enabled to storeexecutable instructions to manage or configure the BNC/FSC transceiver210, the Bluetooth transceiver 220, and/or the WiFi transceiver 230 fordesired behavior. The memory 250 may comprise RAM, ROM, low latencynonvolatile memory such as flash memory and/or other suitable electronicdata storage capable of storing data and instructions.

In operation, the processor 240 may manage and control operation ofdevice components such as the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 and the Bluetoothtransceiver 220 to communicate corresponding radio signals forapplications of interest. Transceivers such as the BNC/FSC transceiver210 may be enabled to utilize full spectrum capture for datacommunication to support the applications of interest. For example, atransceiver such as the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may be enabled todigitize the entire operation spectrum band, 1 GHz, for example, forinstant access to channels anywhere in the operation spectrum band. Inthis regard, the use of full spectrum capture may enable the BNC/FSCtransceiver 210 with total bandwidth deployment flexibility. Forexample, transceivers such as the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may be tunedto an entirely different frequency in the operation spectrum bandwithout constraint. In particular, previously unusable frequencies inthe operation spectrum band may now be applied for additional broadbandservices. Additionally, the BNC/FSC transceiver 210 may be tuned toeither broadband or broadcast services, and the channel allocation maybe changed over time allowing operators to seamlessly transitionservices from broadcast to IP.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram that illustrates an example device thatperforms Communication utilizing a full spectrum capture dongle, inaccordance with an example embodiment of the invention. In accordancewith an example embodiment, the dongle shown is a BNC/FSC dongle.Referring to FIG. 2B, there is shown a BNC/FSC dongle 260 comprising analignment/positioning module 269, a BNC/FSC transceiver (controller)270, a wired interface 261, a Bluetooth transceiver 280, a WiFitransceiver 290, a processor 271, and a memory 291. Thealignment/positioning module 269 may comprise a visual and/or audioindicator module 269(a). The Bluetooth transceiver 280, wired interface261, and the WiFi transceiver 290 may be optional depending on devicecapabilities, network availabilities and/or user preferences.

The BNC/FSC transceiver (controller) 270 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may allow the BNC/FSC dongle 260and other BNC capable devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 toperform communication utilizing BNC/FSC. The BNC/FSC transceiver 270 maybe substantially similar to the BNC/FSC transceiver (controller) 210,which is described with respect to FIG. 2A. For example, the BNC/FSCtransceiver 270 may enable the BNC/FSC dongle 260 to communicateinformation with the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 and other BNC/FSCenabled devices 110(a)-110(c).

The alignment/positioning module 269 may comprise suitable logiccircuitry interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide optimalalignment of the BNC/FSC dongle when the dongle is utilized for bridgingacross a barrier such as a dwelling wall. In this regard, a firstportion of the BNC/FSC dongle may be operable to transmit test signalsthat are received by the second portion of the BNC/FSC dongle and aquality and strength of the signals that are received may be determined.LEDs, LCD, beeps, audio or other alert may be utilized to providealignment cues and to indicate when both portions of the BNC/FSC dongleare optimally aligned. The test signals may be transmitted by one orboth portions of the BNC/FSC dongle and received and assessed by one orboth portions of the BNC/FSC dongle in order to determine when thecorresponding BNC/FSC dongle is aligned to provide optimal communicationbetween both portions of BNC/FSC dongle.

The alignment/positioning module 269 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to aid withalignment of the BNC/FSC dongle so as to ensure optimal communicationbetween two paired BNC/FSC dongles. The alignment/positioning module 269may comprise a visual and/or audio indicator module 269 a that may beoperable to provide visual and/or audio cues that may aid in thealignment of both portions of the BNC/FSC dongle. The visual and/oraudio indicator module 269 a may comprise LED(s)/LCD(s) 269 b and/or aspeaker 269 c that may be operable to generate voice, beeps, audio, textlights or other indicators, which may function as alignment cues. Thealignment/positioning module 269 may be controlled by the processor 271.

The wired interface 261 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to provide wiredcommunication. For example, the wired interface may comprise an Ethernetor MoCA interface that enables the BNC/FSC dongle 260 to communicate viawires. In this regard, in instances where a paired BNC/FSC dongle may beaffixed to a barrier such as a concrete wall, a first portion of theBNC/FSC dongle may be coupled to, for example, a router via an Ethernetconnection and a second portion of the BNC/FSC dongle may be coupled toa PC via an Ethernet connection. Accordingly, the BNC/FSC dongle 260 maybe operable to provide BNC/FSC bridging across the wall and theremaining connectivity may utilize a wired connection.

The Bluetooth transceiver 280 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate Bluetoothradio signals over the Bluetooth network 124. The Bluetooth transceiver280 may be substantially similar to the Bluetooth transceiver 220, whichis described with respect to FIG. 2A. In an example embodiment of theinvention, in some instances, the Bluetooth transceiver 280 may besecurely paired with other Bluetooth and BNC/FSC capable devicesutilizing BNC such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 and the BNC/FSCdongle 260. In this regard, the BNC/FSC transceiver 270 may be operableto exchange authentication information over a BNC link for pairing theBluetooth transceiver 280 with other Bluetooth and BNC/FSC capabledevices.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, in instanceswhere a paired BNC/FSC dongle may be affixed to a barrier such as aconcrete wall, a first portion of the BNC/FSC dongle may be coupled to,for example, a router via a first Bluetooth connection and a secondportion of the BNC/FSC dongle may be coupled to a PC via secondBluetooth connection. Accordingly, the BNC/FSC dongle 260 may beoperable to provide BNC/FSC bridging across the wall and the remainingconnectivity may utilize a Bluetooth connection.

The WiFi transceiver 290 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to communicate WiFi radiosignals over the WiFi network 126. The WiFi transceiver 290 may besubstantially similar to the WiFi transceiver 230, which is illustratedin FIG. 2A. The WiFi transceiver 290 may be enabled to supportcoexistence operations so as to receive WiFi signals while utilizingfull spectrum capture in the BNC/FSC dongle 260. In an exampleembodiment of the invention, the WiFi transceiver 290 may utilize adedicated RF front-end circuitry for data transmission and receptionusing WiFi. In another example embodiment of the invention, the WiFitransceiver 290 may share a RF front-end circuitry with the BNC/FSCtransceiver 270 for data transmission and receiving using WiFi.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, in instanceswhere the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 comprises a BNC/FSC dongle that maybe affixed to a barrier such as a concrete wall, a first portion of theBNC/FSC dongle may be coupled to, for example, a router via a first WiFiconnection and a second portion of the BNC/FSC dongle may be coupled toa PC via a second WiFi connection. Accordingly, the BNC/FSC dongle maybe operable to provide BNC/FSC bridging across the wall and theremaining connectivity may utilize a WiFi connection.

The processor 271 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be enabled to perform a variety of signalprocessing tasks such as channel selection or filtering, digitalscaling, rate conversion, carrier/time synchronization/recovery,equalization/demapping, channel decoding and/or controlling theoperation of the alignment/positioning module 269. The processor 271 maybe substantially similar to the processor 240, which is illustrated inFIG. 2A. The processor 271 may be operable to coordinate and controloperations of the BNC/FSC transceiver 270, the Bluetooth transceiver280, and the WiFi transceiver 290 to communicate corresponding radiosignals while utilizing full spectrum capture. For example, theprocessor 240 may manage, activate or deactivate the BNC/FSC transceiver270 according to received Bluetooth signals via the Bluetoothtransceiver 280. The processor 260 may also be operable to synchronizethe operation of the BNC/FSC transceiver 270 and the Bluetoothtransceiver 280, for example, so as to reduce time delay for accuratelydetermining the location of an object of interest.

The processor 271 may be operable to control the alignment/positioningmodule 269. In this regard, the processor 271 may be operable todetermine when two paired BNC/FSC dongles are positioned so as toprovide optimal communication between the two sides of the BNC/FSCdongle. The processor 271 may be operable to control the generation andupdating of visual and/or audio cues that are handled by the visualand/or audio indicator module 269 a, which may be utilized to enablealignment of both portions of the BNC/FSC dongle. The visual cues may beprovided by the LED(s)/LCD(s) 269 b and the audio cues may be providedby the speaker 269 c.

In various example embodiments of the invention, the processor 271 mayenable configuration of the BNC/FSC dongle 260 to operate in differentcommunication environments. In this regard, for example, power, distanceand bandwidth may be configured in order to stay within the FCC masksand limits and at the same time, provide optimal performance across theentire bandwidth. The processor 271 may also control pairing of twoBNC/FSC dongles.

The memory 291 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/orcode that may enable storage of data and/or other information utilizedby the processor 271. For example, the memory 291 may be utilized tostore information such as available operation spectrum bands that theBNC/FSC dongle 260 may operate, and channels in the available operatingspectrum bands. The memory 291 may be enabled to store executableinstructions to manage or configure the BNC/FSC transceiver 270, theBluetooth transceiver 280, the alignment/positioning module 269, thewired interface 261 and/or the WiFi transceiver 290 for desiredbehavior. The memory 250 may comprise RAM, ROM, low latency nonvolatilememory such as flash memory and/or other suitable electronic datastorage capable of storing data and instructions.

In operation, the processor 271 may be operable to pair two BNC/FSCdongles and to control the alignment/positioning module 269 so as toprovide optimal alignment of the BNC/FSC dongle in instances when theBNC/FSC dongle is being utilized for bridging across a barrier such as adwelling wall. The processor 271 may be operable to manage and controloperation of the components of the BNC/FSC dongle 260 such as theBNC/FSC transceiver 270, the Bluetooth transceiver 280 and the WiFitransceiver 290 to communicate corresponding radio signals forapplications of interest. Transceivers such as the BNC/FSC transceiver270 may be enabled to utilize full spectrum capture for datacommunication to support the applications of interest. For example, atransceiver such as the BNC/FSC transceiver 270 may be enabled todigitize the entire operation spectrum band, 1 GHz, for example, forinstant access to channels anywhere in the operation spectrum band.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates an example controller, suchas a broadband near-field communication (BNC) controller for example,utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown acontroller 300, which may be, for example, a BNC/FSC controller. TheBNC/FSC controller 300 may comprise a transmit path 310 and a receivepath 320, which share a DSP/Modem/CPU unit 330. A BNC power inductivecoupling unit 312 is coupled to a diplexer 314 such that the BNC powerinductive coupling unit 312 may be shared by the transmit path 310 andthe receive path 320 for data transmission and data receiving,respectively, over channels, φ₁, . . . , φ_(n), within a full spectrumband 380. In addition, the transmit path 310 may comprise variable gainamplifiers 316 a and 320 a, a transmit filter 318 a, and a DAC 322 a.The receive path 320 may comprise variable gain amplifiers 316 b and 320b, a receive filter 318 b, and an ADC 322 b.

In an example operation, the BNC power inductive coupling unit 312 maycomprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may beutilized as an antenna for wireless communication operations for signaltransmission and reception through the transmit path 310 and the receivepath 320, respectively. The BNC power inductive coupling unit 312 maycomprise a single near-field inductive coupling device such as a coil oran antenna or an antenna coil, for example. In some instances, thesingle coil may be utilized for wireless communication operations thatare based on time-division duplexing (TDD) and/or frequency-divisionduplexing (FDD). In addition to being utilized as an antenna forwireless communication operations, the single coil may be utilized forreceiving charge from a charging pad, for example, to power or operateat least a portion of the device that comprises the various componentsshown in FIG. 3. The coil may be communicatively coupled to circuitry(not shown) that may be utilized to manage and/or store the receivedcharge.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the coil of the BNC powerinductive coupling unit 312 may comprise a plurality of coil turns. Inthis regard, the number of coil turns that correspond to the receivepath 320 may be larger than the number of coil turns that correspond tothe transmit path 310 so as to obtain a low transmit gain and highreceive gain operation.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the BNC power inductivecoupling unit 312 may also be equalized as part of full spectrumcapture, when used as an antenna. Unlike narrowband systems in which thesignals are narrowband compared to the characteristics of the antenna,the antenna in full spectrum capture may typically not be optimized forthe application. Since the operation for full spectrum capture may be atlower frequencies and at low powers than other wireless technologies, itmay be possible to utilize antennas with poor characteristics byequalizing the power provided to the antenna. In this manner, the powerfrom the antenna may be maximized without violating any FederalCommunications Commission (FCC) constraints. A sensor may be implementedto detect or sense the impedance of the antenna across a range offrequencies. The output from the sensor may be provided as feedback fordigital processing to enable sub-carrier equalization in order to obtainan optimal power transfer out of the antenna. For example, atfrequencies where the antenna performance is poor (e.g., 10%efficiency), the power may be increased to overcome the inefficiencies.Since only a few frequencies may require additional power to compensatefor the inefficiencies, the overall power transmitted may still bewithin FCC requirements. For example, power for certain frequencies maybe increased by as much as 30 dB while the overall power transmittedremains within FCC requirements. In some instances, there may be acorrespondence between the frequencies at which the transmit antenna haspoor performance and the frequencies at which the receive antenna haspoor performance. This correspondence may be utilized for purposes ofantenna equalization. Antenna equalization may compriseover-compensation and/or under-compensation at one or more frequenciesbased on the characteristics of the transmit antenna and/or the receiveantenna.

In order to combine the phase carriers, equalization may need to beperformed. To utilize equalization, there may be known pilot symbolpatterns, which may be scattered throughout the portion of the spectrumbeing considered. The pilot symbols may be at a known phase and are notrandomized nor modulated by a data stream. The whole channel may beequalized based on these pilot symbols, which enables phase recovery. Byutilizing pilot symbols, OFDM or WCDMA techniques may be supported forthe modem portion described above. In broadcast, OFDM techniques may beutilized in which pilot symbols or pilot tones may be picked up, thepilot symbols or pilot tones being fixed or scattered and rotated overtime. WiFi on the other hand, may utilize preambles and/or pilot symbolsto enable synchronization.

In an example embodiment of the invention, high receive gain may also beachieved by aiming the antenna in a particular direction. For fullspectrum capture in personal area networks, for example,omni-directional antennas for both transmit and receive operations maybe more suitable than asymmetric antennas. On the other hand, forcommunicating or penetrating across a wall for indoor dwelling or otherlike barrier, an asymmetric antenna configuration may be more suitablefor full spectrum capture since it may be preferable to receive in onedirection and not the other.

The transmission characteristics of a remote antenna or coil may berepresented and/or modeled by the block labeled area of transmission(AT), while the reception characteristics of a local antenna or coil maybe represented and/or modeled by the block labeled area of receiving(AR). In an example embodiment of the invention, the remote antenna mayalso have reception characteristics and the local antenna may also havetransmission characteristics.

In one example embodiment of the invention, synchronization may occur byutilizing a standard frequency pattern for the antenna when a lowercoding rate with more coding protection is being utilized. Once twodevices are synchronized, the devices may start a negotiation tooptimize the channel. For example, each device may provide antennaperformance information and/or channel conditions information to theother device based on an information conveyance protocol. By utilizingthe protocol information, impedance sensing, and signal processing, thechannel conditions may be identified and considered when determining thetransmit power distribution across antenna frequencies. In this regard,the devices may be operable to perform signal processing algorithms thatallow the devices to dynamically determine local and remote antennacharacteristics, and/or channel conditions or impairments, including thepresence of blockers or interferers, for example. A tracking scheme maybe implemented for exchanging channel and/or antenna characteristics,which may include a preamble, a pattern field, and/or decoding rateinformation. These operations may be performed at the PHY and/or MAClayers, for example, through the DSP/Modem/CPU unit 330.

Some of the techniques described above may be applied to overcome thepoor performance that some antennas may have over a wide spectrum. Thewide spectrum requirements of full spectrum capture are such that theratio of the lower frequencies to the higher frequencies is higher thana similar ratio for ultra-wideband (UWB), for example. As a result,antenna characteristics over the wide spectrum of full spectrum captureoperation may be continuously monitored and considered where suchoperations may not be needed for UWB.

In example embodiments of the invention, other wireless technologies,for example, ZigBee, Bluetooth, WLAN, and WiMax, may be supported inaddition to full spectrum capture. In this regard, a separate and/orbetter antenna may be needed to support TDD for Bluetooth, for example,at least on the receive path 320. The transmit path 310 may be a reverseimplementation of the receive path 320. In ZigBee, Bluetooth, WLAN, andWiMax, there may be mixing and filtering operations at the front endthat allows the signal path to have a narrower band than full spectrumcapture, which in turn may benefit from a dedicated antenna.

In an example embodiment of the invention, other wireless technologiessuch as, for example, ZigBee, Bluetooth, WLAN, and WiMax may coexistwith full spectrum capture in the same BNC/FSC enabled device 200. Inthis regard, coexistence operations may be supported. Two or morereceive antennas may be utilized, each of which receives signals fromdifferent wireless technologies such as, for example, ZigBee, Bluetooth,WLAN, and WiMax. Each of the received signals may be processed orfiltered before they are all combined and digitally converted for fullspectrum capture operations. In addition, utilizing device componentssuch as the ADC 322 b and/or the DAC 322 a, which require less power,may enable multimode devices. In an example embodiment of the invention,multimode devices such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may utilizefull spectrum capture as a single radio to support multiple modes or asa universal interface by having one or more of the analog components,such as the filters, for example, be band-selectable or tunable. Thedata converter may still run at the appropriate rate to enable handlingof the filtered data. In this regard, the full spectrum capture may beutilized for Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, and/or WiFi communications.

In some example embodiments of the invention, a delta-sigma bandpassconverter may be utilized in connection with the ADC 322 b such that thesampling may have a transfer function that peaks at a certain frequencyand drops off at other frequencies. By having a converter that has aband-pass transfer function and not a low-pass transfer function it maybe possible to modify the ADC 322 b and perform conversion operationsutilizing less power.

Operating full spectrum capture at higher frequencies, such as 5 GHz or10 GHz, for example, based on an efficient ADC and/or DAC, may supportcapture or reception of IEEE 802.11 signals. The filtering andprocessing may be performed digitally. In some instances, the front-endof the full spectrum capture may be made coarsely tunable to be able toremove, in the analog domain, certain frequencies, bands, and/orunwanted intermediate data. Such an approach may provide an improvementin dynamic range. Digital signal processing may then be utilized for anyfurther filtering operations that may be needed.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the full spectrum capture maybe implemented without mixers. In this regard, the data pipe may remainlarge until the data becomes digital. In addition, not having mixers infull spectrum capture may remove additional components in the transmitpath 310 and the receive path 320 that may result in a lowered dynamicrange. Distortion and/or noise performance may also be improved sincemixers are not included in the transmit path 310 and the receive path320.

The diplexer 314 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to reduce the likelihood that signaltransmission may saturate the receive path 320. The diplexer 314,however, may not be needed when very low power levels are utilized overa wide bandwidth, as may occur during full spectrum capture operations.In such instances, transmission and reception of signals may occurconcurrently without having signal transmission interfere with signalreception. In some example embodiments of the invention, a switch may beutilized instead of the diplexer 314 to switch between transmission andreception in TDD communications.

The transmit filter 318 a and the receive filter 318 b may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto provide or perform spectral filtering to support full spectrumcapture operations. In this regard, the transmit filter 318 a and thereceive filter 318 b may be utilized to filter frequencies outside thefull spectrum capture frequency range. In some instances, thecharacteristics of the antenna (e.g., coil) may be such that it mayperform filtering functions and, in those instances, transmit and/orreceive filters may not be needed.

The DAC 322 a and the ADC 322 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to perform Digital to Analogdata generation or conversion and Analog to Digital data collections,respectively. In an example embodiment of the invention, the DAC 322 aand the ADC 322 b may be operable to perform high speeddigital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion, respectively. Inthis regard, the DAC 322 a and the ADC 322 b may be operable at veryhigh speeds to enable full spectrum capture. The digital signalsproduced by the ADC 322 b and received by the DAC 322 a may be referredto as digital baseband signals. The DAC 322 a and the ADC 322 b may becommunicatively coupled to the DSP/Modem/CPU unit 330.

The various variable gain amplifiers 316 a and 320 a, and 316 b and 320b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces thatmay be operable to have the gain that may be applied by the variablegain amplifier 316 a, for example, to an input signal be programmable orcontrolled. One or more of the variable gain amplifiers in the transmitpath 310 may comprise power amplifiers, while one or more of thevariable gain amplifiers in the receive path 320 may comprise low-noiseamplifiers. The various variable gain amplifiers 316 a and 320 a, and316 b and 320 b may be operable to handle low levels of power spreadover a wide bandwidth to support full spectrum capture operations.

The DSP/Modem/CPU unit 330 may comprise circuitry that may comprise adigital signal processor (DSP) portion 332, a modulator-demodulator(modem) portion 334, and/or a central processing unit (CPU) 336. The DSPportion 332 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/orinterfaces that may be operable to clean up signals. For example, theDSP portion 332 may be operable to perform channel selection and/orfiltering, digital scaling, and/or rate conversion. The rate conversionor sample rate conversion may be performed utilizing variable rateinterpolators. For example, a 13.5 MHz signal that is received may beinterpolated down to a 13.3 MHz signal during rate conversionoperations.

The modem portion 334 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code,and/or interfaces that may be operable to perform synchronization,equalization and/or demapping, and/or channel encoding when processingreceived signals. The channel decoder may utilize a concatenated codesuch as an inner code and an outer code. An example of such aconcatenated code may comprise a low-density parity-check (LDPC) codefollowed by a Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghen (BCH) code. The channel decodermay utilize a concatenated code that comprises a Viterbi code, forexample. The modem portion 334 may also be operable to perform channelencoding and/or equalization, and/or mapping when processing signals fortransmission. During transmission synchronization is typically notneeded. The operation of the modem portion 334 may be implemented usingan orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) approach or anapproach based on code division multiple access (CDMA).

The CPU portion 336 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/orinterfaces that may be operable to support MAC layer and/or Link layeroperations for full spectrum capture. The MAC layer may support theability to share the medium, which utilizing full spectrum captureallows the medium to be shared with fewer collision type issues. Forexample, when everyone is sending less than the full bandwidth (e.g., 1GHz), the operation may be easier than if everyone is trying to sendclose to the full bandwidth, in which case some form of negotiationbetween devices may be supported by the MAC layer.

The MAC layer and the Link layer enable access sharing, which may useOFDM techniques or some form of CDMA as described above. Simple CDMAtechniques may also be used. For CDMA-like operations, low-powermultiple phase carriers may be sent, such as 8 k, 10 k, 12 k, 32 k, or64 k, for example. Each of the phase carriers may have a random phase.When the random phase is known, a scan or search may be performed forthose known phase carriers. In some instances, there may be one or morepreset channels for each search. Since the power utilized in fullspectrum capture is typically very low, the search or scan goes througheach of the channels. If the different phase carriers may be combined,it may be possible to obtain a significant coding or dispreading gain.OFDM techniques may provide, at least in some instances, an approach inwhich some of the sub-channels may be left out or left unused,especially when it is known that those channels may have some form ofinterference. For example, it may be preferable not to transmit incertain channels that are known to be dead and/or where it may bepreferable to ignore information from a channel that has noise and islikely to degrade the performance of the combined signal.

In some example embodiments of the invention, the spectral bandwidthcorresponding to full spectrum capture operations may extend to afrequency (e.g., f_(FSC)) of approximately 1 GHz, for example. The fullspectrum capture spectral bandwidth may depend on the frequency ofoperation of the ADC 322 b and/or of the DAC 322 a. If the ADC 322 band/or the DAC 322 a is operable to capture 10 GHz of bandwidth, forexample, full spectrum capture at or near 10 GHz may be performed.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSC enabled device200 may comprise one or more other receive paths 321 a-321 n in additionto the receive path 320 with full spectrum capture. In this regard, theone or more other receive paths 321 a-321 n may comprise components forhandling received signals via WiFi, WiMax, ZigBee, RFID, and/orBluetooth. In an example embodiment of the invention, when supportingadditional wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth and/or WiFi, forexample, a portion of the receive path 320 with full spectrum capturemay be coupled to the one or more other receive paths 321 a-321 n. Inother words, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may be configured to utilizedifferent RF front ends to support communication via additional wirelesstechnologies. In an example embodiment of the invention, the BNC/FSCenabled device 200 may be configured to utilize a single RF front end tohandle communication via BNC/FSC, WiFi, WiMax, ZigBee, RFID, BNC andBluetooth.

In one example embodiment of the invention, a device such as the BNC/FSCenabled device 200 may support a processing path for full spectrumcapture and another processing path for narrowband communication. Thedevice may be operable to switch between the two based on the operationof the BNC/FSC enabled device 200. Moreover, when switching to thenarrowband communication processing path, the amount of power underconsideration may drop from the amount of power being handled by thefull spectrum capture processing path. The narrowband communicationprocessing path may share some components with the full spectrum captureprocessing path such as low-noise amplifiers 316 a, 316 b, 320 a and 320b.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that illustrates an example implementation fora controller, such as a broadband near-field communication (BNC)controller for example, that utilizes a tunable notch filter in areceive path with full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with anexample embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, there is showna controller 400, which may be a hybrid BNC/FSC controller, for example.The hybrid BNC/FSC controller 400 may comprise a transmit path 410, areceive path 420, and a DSP/Modem/CPU unit 430. In addition, thetransmit path 410 may comprise a variable gain amplifier 416 and a DAC418. The receive path 420 may comprise a variable gain amplifier 426, atunable notch filter 427, and an ADC 428. The transmit path 410 and thereceive path 420 may be coupled to the same antenna 412 through atransmit-receive (T/R) switch 414. In this regard, the variable gainamplifiers 416 in the transmit path 410 may be turned off duringreceive, and the variable gain amplifiers 426 in the receive path 420may be turned off when transmit. The antenna 412, the variable gainamplifiers 416 and 426, the DAC 418 and the ADC 428 may be similar tothe BNC power inductive coupling unit 312, the variable gain amplifiers316 b, 320 a, the DAC 322 a, and the ADC 322 b of FIG. 3, respectively.

The T/R switch 414 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfacesand/or code that may be operable to switch between transmit and receive.In some example embodiments of the invention, the T/R switch 414 may bepositioned or placed between the variable gain amplifier 426 and thetunable notch filter 427 in the receive path 420. In some instances,since the power being transmitted may be low enough, the T/R switch 414may not be needed.

The tunable notch filter 427 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,code, and/or interfaces that may be operable to reject a blocker orinterference signal. The blockers may be strong and saturate the ADC428. In this regard, the tunable notch filter 427 may be utilized toremove the strongest blocker. The tunable notch filter 427 may beimplemented on-board or on-chip, for example. For high frequencies, thetunable notch filter 427 may be on-chip, and for low frequencies, it maybe off-chip. While the tunable notch filter 427 may affect thefrequencies that are adjacent to the frequency being removed, the fullspectrum capture spectrum overall may not be significantly affectedbecause of the broadband nature of full spectrum capture. Sensingcircuitry may be utilized to detect the strong blockers and providefeedback to adjust the frequency of the tunable notch filter 427.

The receive path 420 may also comprise a preamble detector 431, atime-domain filter 432, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block 434, achannel equalizer (CE) 436, a symbol to bit demapper, and/or a forwarderror correction (FEC) block 440. The preamble detector 431 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operableto detect OFDM symbols in time domain from time domain samples from thetunable notch filter 427. The time-domain filter 432 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operableto reject strong blocker signals. The FFT block 434 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operableto perform Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) over OFDM symbols from the timedomain filter 432. The FFT block 434 may be operable to convert timedomain samples of the OFDM symbols to corresponding frequency domainsamples for frequency domain channel equalization via the CE 436. The CE436 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces thatmay be operable to provide channel equalization for frequency bands ofinterest utilizing frequency domain samples supplied from the FFT block434. The symbol to bit demapper 438 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operable to performbit-loading configuration.

The transmit path 410 may also comprise a bit to symbol mapper 433, asub-carrier mapper 435, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block437, and/or a preamble insertion block 439. The bit to symbol mapper 433may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that maybe operable to perform symbol-loading configuration. The sub-carriermapper 435 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code, and/orinterfaces that may be operable to map sub-carriers to avoid regulatedfrequencies. The avoidance of regulated frequencies may be binary orgraduated. The IFFT block 437 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to perform Inverse FastFourier Transform (IFFT) over frequency domain samples of OFDM symbolsfrom the sub-carrier mapper 435. The IFFT block 437 may be operable toconvert frequency domain samples of the OFDM symbols to correspondingtime domain samples. The preamble insertion block 439 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operableto insert a preamble into time domain samples from the IFFT block 437 ina manner that deals with frequency avoidance.

Although OFDM-based implementation is illustrated for full spectrumcapture, the invention may not be so limited. Accordingly, otherwireless technologies such as CDMA technology and WCDMA (spread spectrumapproach) technology may also be utilized for full spectrum capturewithout departing from the spirit and scope of various exampleembodiments of the invention.

In example embodiment of the invention, on the receive path 420, thevariable gain amplifier 426, as a LNA typically drives the very fast ADC428 in order to achieve full spectrum capture performance. The fullspectrum capture operations may be typically used with packet-basedsystems. In example embodiment of the invention, the full spectrumcapture operations may comprise having a MAC layer picking whichfrequency bands are to be used and coordinating that information withthe device front-end. The MAC layer may also determine and/or coordinatebit loading, for example. In this regard, the MAC layer may determinewhich frequencies have good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and which onesdo not, and may allocate more bits to the ones with good SNR than tothose with lower SNR.

In example embodiment of the invention, on the transmit path 410, theremay be frequency ranges in which the full spectrum capture may not wantto transmit. For example, the full spectrum capture may be explicitlyprohibited by regulatory rules from transmitting in certain frequencies.In another example, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may sense that atelevision channel is being used and may not want to transmit in thatfrequency. As described above, the avoidance of certain frequencies maybe implemented in a binary or graduated fashion. For example, in abinary case, transmission at a certain frequency or note may be ON orOFF. For the graduated case, the power level of the transmitted signalmay be based on how strong other signals are in that same frequency. Forexample, the power level may be stronger for transmission at thefrequency of the television channel when the signal strength of thetelevision channel is low, which may indicate that the signal is faraway.

To start communication between two devices, a time reference may beestablished and there be an agreement about which frequencies are to beutilized. In example embodiment of the invention, various ways in whichsynchronization may be supported may be utilized by the hybrid BNC/FSCcontroller 400. For example, one way that may be supported may be forthe hybrid BNC/FSC controller 400 that supports full spectrum capture toawake and look for preambles or beacons of some sort. This approach mayconsume a lot of power. Another approach that may be supported may be tohave both sides, that is, the two peer devices that are to communicate,look at one or more pulse per second (PPS) signals used in globalpositioning systems (GPS). When any one device wakes up, it may berealigned based on a PPS signal. In some instances, the PPS signal thatmay be utilized for synchronization is from another device that isnearby. This type of synchronization may occur even when there is a lotof drift and/or when there is some degree of inaccuracy with the PPSsignal. In some example embodiments of the invention, there may be anindication received or generated by the device of how accurate the PPSsignal is in order to determine whether the PPS signal is suitable forsynchronization.

In example embodiment of the invention, the hybrid BNC/FSC controller400 may utilize unlicensed bands to establish synchronization. In thisregard, synchronization information may also be provided in anunlicensed band, such as the cordless region 450, for example, between917 MHz and 950 MHz. The hybrid BNC/FSC controller 400 may look intothis region of the spectrum to find synchronization information.Similarly, frequencies down at around 27 MHz (e.g., frequencies foroperation of garage door openers) 460 may be utilized by devices lookingfor synchronization information.

In some example embodiments of the invention, the two peer deviceslooking to synchronize may operate based on an established agreement ontime regarding how long to look for a neighbor to synchronize. Sincesynchronization may take some time at relatively large power levels,looking for a neighbor for a long period of time may result in powerbeing drained from the searching device.

In an example embodiment of the invention, preset OFDM symbols withrandomized phases may be utilized in a correlation operation to enablesynchronization with another device. With OFDM enabled, when a preambleis utilized, the preamble may typically cover the entire frequency band.The preamble may need to be changed to avoid certain frequencies asdetermined by regulatory rules and/or operating conditions. The preamblemay then be implemented before the FFT block 434 in the receive path420. Both sides may need to be aware of the preamble characteristics inorder to enable communication between them.

In example embodiment of the invention, the full spectrum capture mayprovide very short duty cycles for low power. In this regard, FCCintermittent burst allows for the transmission, at the packet level, ofmuch higher power during short burst. The amount of power that isprovided may be based on the frequency.

FIG. 5 a chart that illustrates example distance-based pairing scheme ofdevices, such as BNC/FSC devices for example, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, there is showna distance-based pairing chart 500. In various example embodiments ofthe inventions, a sliding scale may be utilized for secured pairing ofBNC/FSC enabled devices such as a BNC/FSC dongle.

The two BNC/FSC enabled devices that are to be paired may be placed veryclose to each other and their power may be controlled to the point wherethey may just hear each other and thus may not be heard by any otherlistening device. At that point, security information such as keys maybe exchanged and the two devices paired using full spectrum capture. Inan example embodiment of the invention, depending on distance betweenthe two BNC/FSC enabled devices, different levels of security may beapplied for pairing. In this regard, pairing may occur at varyingdistances. The closer together the two BNC/FSC enabled devices are, thelesser the security that is needed. On the other hand, the further aparttwo BNC/FSC enabled devices are, the greater the security that is neededfor pairing. For example, if the two BNC/FSC enabled devices, between 0and A, are touching or near touching, then no security request isneeded. In other words, users of the two BNC/FSC enabled devices do notcare whether the content is communicated without security, so long asthe communication occurs and/or occurs within a certain range (between 0and A).

If the two BNC/FSC enabled devices, between A and B, are near touching,then a first security scheme may be utilized. If the two BNC/FSC enableddevices are between B and C, 5 cm apart, for example, a second securityscheme may be utilized, where the second security scheme may be strongerthan the first security scheme. If the two BNC/FSC enabled devices arebetween B and C, 20 cm apart, for example, a third security scheme maybe utilized, where the third security scheme may be stronger than thesecond and the first security schemes. If the two BNC/FSC enableddevices are beyond D, greater than 100 cm, for example, no pairing maybe allowed.

A security scheme may comprise data categories that may be communicatedbetween the two BNC/FSC enabled devices. In an example embodiment of theinvention, the two BNC/FSC enabled devices may be operable tocommunicate secure data only when the two BNC/FSC enabled devices arelocated at a certain distance. For example, the two BNC/FSC enableddevices may only communicate data when they are located at one meter orless apart. If the two BNC/FSC enabled devices are located at a distancegreater than one meter, they may communicate only non-secure data. Ifthe two BNC/FSC enabled devices are located more than 2 meters apart,then they may not communicate at all. Those two BNC/FSC enabled devicesmay only know the channel between the two BNC/FSC enabled devices andboth devices share the same spectrum.

Another example embodiment of the invention may also provide a layeredapproach for data communication between the two BNC/FSC enabled devices.In this regard, data may be assigned to a particular layer and only datathat is in a particular layer may be communicated based on the distance.A data type may specify what kind of data is in each particular layer.For example, secure data in layer 1 may only be communicated when bothdevices are less than ½ meter apart. Non-secure data in layer 2 may onlybe communicated in instances when both devices are less than or equal to1.5 meters apart. Non-secure data in layer 3 may only be communicated ininstances when both devices are less than or equal to 2 meters apart.Non-secure data in layer 4 may only be communicated in instances whenboth devices are less than or equal to 2.0 meters apart, and so on.

Devices may be identified by, for example, MAC addresses. If a known ortrusted device is within a certain range, then communication may bepermitted with little or no security based on the device identity.However, once the trusted device is out of range, then security may berequired to facilitate communication. For example, a successfulchallenge may be required for communication to occur.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram that illustrates example steps for devicepairing and security in broadband near-field communication (BNC)utilizing full spectrum capture (FSC), in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, in step 602, a BNC/FSCenabled device such as the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 is powered on. TheBNS/FSC enabled device may comprise a BNC/FSC dongle 260 that may beoperable to communicate across a barrier such as a dwelling wall. Inthis regard, the two BNC/FSC devices that are placed on either side ofthe dwelling wall may comprise peer devices that may be paire.

The example steps start in step 604, where the BNC/FSC enabled device200 may be operable to detect peer devices over BNC link utilizing fullspectrum capture. For example, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 maymonitor signals or messages received via the BNC power inductivecoupling unit 312 for device-identifying reference information such as aMAC-ID, MSN or a peer address in the communication network, where thepairing takes place. In step 606, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 maydetermine whether peer BNC/FSC enabled devices are detected over a BNClink. In instances where one or more peer BNC/FSC enabled devices aredetected, then in step 608, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may determinewhether it touches or nearly touches the detected peer BNC/FSC enableddevices. In instances where the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 touches ornearly touches the detected peer BNC/FSC enabled devices, then in step610, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may bypass security request. Inother words, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may not exchange orcommunicate security information with the detected peer BNC/FSC enableddevices. The security information may comprise user account names andlogo, password, PIN number and other credentials, security categories,encryption keys, cryptographic keys, an authentication value andsequence number, signatures to be included, digital certificates, sourceIP address, destination IP address, and/or port numbers.

In step 612, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may be operable to establishpairing with each of the detected peer BNC/FSC enabled devices over BNClink using full spectrum capture. The pairing may comprise near touchpairing, wave to pairing and gesture pairing. Touch or near touchpairing refers to pairing the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 with a peerBNC/FSC enabled device by simply touching or near touching the twoBNC/FSC enabled devices to be paired or connected to the network. Waveto pair enables the pairing of two BNC/FSC enabled devices when they arewithin certain proximity of each other, for example, ¼ of a wavelengthof each other. In this regard, one device may be waved next to the otherwithin the distance of ¼ wavelength to accomplish pairing.

In one example embodiment of the invention, the waving may have to occurin a specific manner or pattern to effectively pair the two BNC/FSCenabled devices. If the waiving is not done in that specific manner orpattern, then no pairing is done and the devices may not communicatewith each other or will not communicate secure information with eachother. This is done, for example, to avoid unintended pairings basedsimply on proximity in crowded environments. This signature for wavingor waving in a particular pattern may be referred to as gesture orsignature pairing. In this regard, the device would not only need to bewithin certain proximity, but also would need to be moved or waived in apre-defined manner, during which the devices are brought into suchproximity. The BNC/FSC enabled devices may take advantage of existingmotion/directional devices, such as a gyroscope, to capture a uniquegesture or signature for each user, and only pair the communicationdevice if that gesture or signature is detected during a proximityevent.

In step 614, the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may mutually shareapplications, multimedia content or files, and device components such asdisplay with the detected peer BNC/FSC enabled devices. In this regard,sharing of the display, multimedia content or files may occur among theBNC/FSC enabled device 200 and the detected peer BNC/FSC enabled devicesregardless of who is receiving the display content. For example, a userof BNC/FSC enabled device 200 at a mall may take a picture and share thescreen, which displays the picture, with all their friends who arestanding there. In this regard, the user is not concerned whethersomeone is eavesdropping and is viewing the picture. The BNC/FSC enableddevice 200 may be controlled so the signals are not communicated beyonda certain range.

In an example embodiment of the invention, a secure communicationsession may be established for paired devices based on proximity. Inthis regard, devices may be excluded from the secure communicationsession if they are located outside that proximity.

In step 606, in instances where no peer BNC/FSC enabled device isdetected, then the example steps return to step 604.

In step 608, in instances where the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 does nottouch or near touch the detected peer BNC/FSC enabled devices, then instep 616, where the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may exchange securityinformation with the detected peer devices over BNC link. In step 618,the BNC/FSC enabled device 200 may determine whether the securityinformation from the detected peer devices is correct. In instanceswhere the received security information is correct, then example processcontinues in step 612. Otherwise the example steps return to step 604.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram that illustrates an example use of dongles,such as BNC/FSC dongles for example, in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown arouter 702, a PC 704, two BNC/FSC dongles, namely dongle 1 (706 a) anddongle 2 (706 b), a dwelling wall 708 and the Internet 710.

The BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) may be communicatively coupled to a portsuch as an Ethernet port or MoCA port of the router 702. The router 702may be coupled to the Internet 710. The BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b) iscommunicatively coupled to, for example, an Ethernet port or MoCA portof the PC 704. The BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) is placed adjacent to theBNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b) on an opposite side of the dwelling wall 708.There is no wired connection existing through the wall between theBNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) and the BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b). The BNC/FSCdongle 1 (706 a) may be referred to as a first broadband wireless deviceand the BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b) may be referred to as a secondbroadband wireless device.

The router 702 may comprise suitable logic circuitry interfaces and/orcode that may be operable to route signals from one or more ingressports to one or more egress ports. For example, the router 702 may beoperable to route signals received from the BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) tothe Internet 710 and to route signals received from the Internet 710 tothe BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a). The router 702 may comprise a wirelessand/or wired interface. The wireless interface may comprise a WirelessLAN (802.11a, b, g, e, n), Bluetooth or other interface. The wiredinterface may comprise a MoCA, Ethernet or other interface. In oneexample embodiment of the invention, the connection between the router702 and the BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) may utilize the wireless interfacesuch as 802.11a, b, g, e, n. In another example embodiment of theinvention, the connection between the router 702 and the BNC/FSC dongle1 (706 a) may utilize the wired interface such as Ethernet.

The PC 704 may comprise suitable logic circuitry interfaces and/or codethat may be operable to provide personal computing and communicationservices. For example, the PC 704 may be utilized to surf the Internet,which may be accessible via the router 702 and a BNC/FSC connectionbetween the BNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) and the BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b).The PC 704 may comprise a wired and/or wireless interface. The wirelessinterface may comprise a Wireless LAN (802.11a, b, g, e, n), Bluetoothor other interface. The wired interface may comprise a MoCA, Ethernet orother interface. In one example embodiment of the invention, theconnection between the PC 704 and the BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b) mayutilize the wireless interface such as 802.11a, b, g, e, n. In anotherexample embodiment of the invention, the connection between the PC 704and the BNC/FSC dongle 2 (706 b) may utilize the wired interface such asEthernet.

The dwelling wall 708 may comprise a barrier or support structure for abuilding such as a home or office. The dwelling wall may be made ofwood, concrete gypsum, composite, and/or other material that may beutilized for building walls.

Each of the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b may comprise suitable logiccircuitry interfaces and/or code that may be operable to utilizebroadband near-field communication with full spectrum capture (BNC/FSC)to communicate with each other across a barrier such as the dwellingwall 708. Each of the BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 709 b may be substantiallysimilar to the BNC/FSC dongle 260, which is illustrated in FIG. 2B. Oneor both of the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b may comprise analignment/positioning module 269 that may be operable to providealignment of the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b when they are affixedto a barrier such as the dwelling wall 708. Proper alignment of the twoBNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b ensures optimal communication between thetwo BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, thealignment/positioning module 269 within one or both of the BNC/FSCdongles 706 a, 706 b may comprise circuitry and code that may beoperable to provide proper or optimal alignment of two BNC/FSC dongles706 a, 706 b when they are placed on opposites sides of the barrier suchas the dwelling wall 708. In this regard, test signals may betransmitted by one or both of the BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b andreceived in order to determine when the corresponding BNC/FSC dongle isaligned to provide optimal communication between the two BNC/FSC dongles706 a, 706 b. LEDs, beeps, audio or other alerting or display mechanismsmay be utilized to provide alignment cues and to indicate when theBNC/FSC dongle 1 (706 a) is properly aligned with the BNC/FSC dongle 2(706 b). Visual alignment cues may be provided by the LED/LCD module 269b and audio alignment cues may be provided by the speaker 269 c.

One method aligning the two paired dongles such as the BNC/FSC dongles706 a, 706 b is to place one of the BNC/FSCs dongles in a fixed positionand then move the other BNC/FSC dongle so as to achieve optimalalignment. A visual and/or audible alert may be generated to indicatewhen the optimal alignment occurs. One example visual alert may comprisea series of 5 LED lights arranged as a bar. Whenever all 5 LED lightsare lit, this may indicate that optimal alignment is achieved andsignals are being communicated between the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a,706 b in an efficient manner at maximum throughput. In instances whenless than 5 LED lights are lit, then the alignment of the two donglesare less than optimal, and a better position exists for aligning both ofthe BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b. As an increasing number of LED lightsare lit, and then this provides an indication that the two BNC/FSCdongles 706 a, 706 b are being moved towards a position that isapproaching the optimal alignment position.

Another example visual alert may comprise a LED/LCD counter that may beoperable to display a count of 1 to 10. Whenever the LED/LCD counterdisplays a value of 10, this may indicate that optimal alignment isachieved and signals are being communicated between the two BNC/FSCdongles 706 a, 706 b in an efficient manner at maximum throughput. Ininstances when the LED/LCD counter displays a value of less than 10,then the alignment of the two dongles are less than optimal, and abetter position exists for aligning both of the BNC/FSC dongles 706 a,706 b. As the count value on the LED/LCD counter increases, then thisprovides an indication that the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b arebeing moved towards a position that is approaching the optimal alignmentposition.

One example audio alert may comprise a series of beeps and a solid tone.Whenever a solid tone occurs, this may indicate that optimal alignmentis achieved and signals are being communicated between the two BNC/FSCdongles 706 a, 706 b in an efficient manner at maximum throughput. Ininstances when beeps may occur a slow rate, then the alignment of thetwo dongles are less than optimal, and a better position exists foraligning both of the BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b. As an increasingnumber of beeps are generated, then this provides an indication that thetwo BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b are being moved towards a position thatis approaching the optimal alignment position.

One example audio alert may comprise a voice command that specified thedirection in which to move one of the BNC/FSC dongles in order toprovide optimal alignment. For example, the voice command may indicate“move left,” “move right,” “move up,” “move down,” and “devices a nowaligned.”

In some instances, an integrated module may be used to provide wirelesspower and communication, such as based on broadband near-fieldcommunication (BNC) for example. Example embodiments of such integratedmodules, and/or use thereof are described in more detail in U.S.application Ser. No. 13/726,965, entitled which is incorporated hereinby reference, as set forth above.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates example steps for optimallyinstalling two companion dongles, such as BNC/FSC dongles for example,in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 8, the example steps start at step 802.

In step 804, a first BNC/FSC dongle 706 a is affixed to a first side ofa barrier such as the dwelling wall 708. In step 806, a second BNC/FSCdongle 706 b is placed in a position that is approximately on anopposite side of the concrete wall adjacent to the first BNC/FSC dongle706 a on a second side of the barrier. In step 808, analignment/positioning module 269 on the first BNC/FSC dongle 706 a andon the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b is activated. In step 810, analignment alert indicator may be checked to determine whether there isan indication that the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b has been placed at aposition that allows optimal communication between the first BNC/FSCdongle 706 a and the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b.

In step 812, based on the alignment alert indicator, it may bedetermined, whether the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b is placed at aposition that allows optimal communication between the second and thefirst BNC/FSC dongles 706 b, 706 a, respectively. If the alignment alertindicator indicates that the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b have notbeen placed in a position that allows optimal communication between thetwo BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b, then in step 814, the second BNC/FSCdongle 706 b may be shifted to another position. In this regard, in someinstances one of the BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b may communicationsignal or indicator to shift position and/or particular information onhow to shift position (e.g., based on estimation of required change toallow optimal communication). Control then returns to step 810, wherethe alignment alert indicator may be checked to determine whether thereis an indication that the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b has been placed ata position that allows optimal communication between the first BNC/FSCdongle 706 a and the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b.

If the alignment alert indicator indicates that the two BNC/FSC dongles706 a, 706 b have been placed in a position that allows optimalcommunication between the two BNC/FSC dongles 706 a, 706 b, then in step816, the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b may be affixed at its currentposition to the barrier such as the dwelling wall 708. The example stepsmay end at step 818.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, anapplication running on a Smartphone may be utilized to align the firstBNC/FSC dongle 706 a with the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b. In thisregard, the first BNC/FSC dongle 706 a and the second BNC/FSC dongle 706b may operable to wirelessly communicate with the Smartphone utilizing,for example, Bluetooth or WiFi. The Smartphone may be operable toreceive alignment information from one or both of the first BNC/FSCdongle 706 a and the second BNC/FSC dongle 706 b update an audio and/orgraphical user interface that may provide corresponding audio and/orvisual cues for alignment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram that illustrates varying of attenuation ofsignals passing through different barriers, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 9 there is shown twoBNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 a and 900 b.

Each of the two BNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may comprisesuitable logic circuitry interfaces and/or code for enabling and/orsupporting broadband near-field communication (BNC) with full spectrumcapture (FSC). In this regard, each of the BNC/FSC transceiver peers 900a and 900 b may correspond to a BNC/FSC enabled device (e.g., theBNC/FSC enabled device 200) and/or a BNC/FSC dongle (e.g., the BNC/FSCdongle 300). In an example aspect of the invention, the two BNC/FSCtransceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may be configured to communicatewirelessly, such as through physical barriers (e.g., dwelling walls). Inthis regard, the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 a may be placed adjacentto the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 b on an opposite side of a dwellingwall (e.g., the dwelling wall 708), without wired connection existingthrough the wall between peers, with these peers utilizing broadbandwireless connectivity, such as using broadband near-field communication(BNC) with full spectrum capture (FSC). The BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900a may be referred to as a first broadband wireless device and theBNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 b may be referred to as a second broadbandwireless device.

In operation, the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 a and 900 b may beconfigured to communicate wirelessly across physical barriers, which mayobviate the need to extend wired connections between the peers throughthe barriers (thus requiring making holes through the barriers). Thewireless communication between the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 a and900 b may be configured based on broadband near-field communication(BNC), and/or with full spectrum capture (FSC) as described with respectto, for example, FIGS. 1-8. Wireless communications across a physicalbarrier (e.g., a wall), however, may be affected by characteristics ofthe physical barriers. In this regard, characteristics that may affectwireless communication through barriers may comprise the type ofmaterial used for the barrier (e.g., wood, concrete gypsum, composite,and/or other material that may be utilized for building walls), thethickness of the barrier, presence of particular material that mayaffect wireless communications (e.g., iron rods), or the like.Accordingly, transmitting the same wireless signals by transmitting-endpeers across different barriers may result in different received signalsby receiving-end peers. For example, because it may be easier forsignals to propagate through a drywall 920 than through a concrete wall910, transmitting similar signals by the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 a(e.g., a BNC based 500 Mbps signals) may be attenuated differently as aresult of travelling through the drywall 920 instead of through theconcrete wall 910 (e.g., 10 dB vs. 1 dB), thus resulting in strongersignals being received by the BNC/FSC transceiver peer 900 b in the caseof drywall 920.

Accordingly, in various implementations of the present invention,wireless communication between BNC/FSC transceiver devices (e.g., theBNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 a and 900 b) may be performed usingwireless signal transmission and/or reception components (e.g.,incorporating antennas and the like) which may be adaptively configuredand/or optimized based on the particular physical barriers that separatethese peers. In this regard, such wireless signal transmission and/orreception components may be configured to ensure that they may transmit(and receive) signals that would be able to propagate across thephysical barriers while achieving particular performance criteria, andsuch configuration may be adapted (e.g., modified) based on variationsin characteristics of the physical barriers and/or the desiredperformance criteria. For example, in an embodiment of the invention,the BNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may be placed on eitherside of a wall to act as a wireless bridge for a network, and anparticular alert mechanism (e.g., an audio (beep) and/or visual (varyingintensity LED/light) alert mechanism) may be utilized to indicateoptimal placement of the BNC/FSC transceiver devices to maximizecommunication. The BNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may then beconfigured, after a determination that they are separated by a concretewall (910) that may be around 2 ft in thickness, such that they mayenable wireless communication through concrete walls up to or greaterthan 2 feet in thickness, and providing (performance wise) speeds of a 1Gbps or more at 1 GHz.

In some instances, and to further enhance the BNC based wirelesscommunication, the wireless signal transmission and/or receptioncomponents may also be configured to, in addition to being adaptivelyoptimized for wireless near-field communication (particularly across aphysical barrier of particular characteristics), nullify or minimizesignal communication in other areas (e.g., within intermediate orfar-field ranges). For example, particularly selected and/or configuredantennas (e.g., dipole antennas) and/or coils may be used to provideoptimal signal communication in regions laying directly between theBNC/FSC transceiver devices (including across any physical barriers),which may correspond to near-field ranges, while nullifying or at leastlimiting signals in other regions, which may correspond to far-field orintermediate-field ranges. In some instances, the antennas (or similarcomponents) of BNC/FSC transceiver devices may be configured such thatthe near field stored energy near the antennas (including, for example,the region between the antennas of the BNC/FSC transceiver devices) isdesigned to be large in relation to the radiated energy, to furtheroptimize communication in the near field range (particularly between thedevices) while minimizing communication elsewhere. Example embodimentsthat utilize such antennas or coils are described in more detail withrespect to FIGS. 10A and 10B.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram that illustrates use of dipole antennas thatare configured to provide optimized near-field-communication (NFC) whilereducing the effect of far-field-communication (FFC) for broadbandnear-field communication (BNC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 10A, there is a shown a wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1000.

The wireless signal emitter/receiver component 1000 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code for communicating(transmitting and/or receiving) signals wirelessly in a manner thatsupports broadband near-field communication (BNC) with full spectrumcapture (FSC). In particular the wireless signal emitter/receivercomponent 1000 may be adapted and/or configured for optimizingnear-field-communication (NFC) operations while reducing the effect offar-field-communication (FFC). As shown in FIG. 10A, the wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1000 may be implemented utilizing dipoleantennas. For example, the wireless signal emitter/receiver component1000 may comprise a dipole antenna 1002, which may be utilized tocommunicate signals wirelessly. In this regard, when used intransmitting signals (wirelessly), the dipole antenna 1002 may beoperable to create an electromagnetic field as a result of passing ofelectrical current i in the dipole antenna 1002. When receiving signals(wirelessly), currents may be created through the dipole antenna 1002 asa result of being subjected to an electromagnetic field (e.g. of anotherdipole antenna within operational proximity of the dipole antenna 1002).Accordingly, a signal communication profile of the dipole antenna 1002may be dictated by the electromagnetic field(s) generate by or appliedto the dipole antenna 1002.

In an example embodiment, BNC/FSC transceiver devices (e.g., the BNC/FSCtransceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may utilize dipole antenna basedwireless signal emitter/receiver components to achieve optimal NFCperformance while nullifying other signal communications (e.g., FFC orintermediate range communications). For example, the BNC/FSC transceiverpeers 900 a and 900 b may incorporate and/or be coupled to wirelesssignal emitter/receiver components 1010 a and 1010 b, respectively (eachof which may be substantially similar to the wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1000). In this regard, the wireless signalemitter/receiver components 1010 a and 1010 b may be placed and/orpositioned next to each other (e.g., across a physical barrier, such asthe concrete wall 910 or the drywall 920), such that their dipoleantennas may be positioned next to (or near) each other, as shown inFIG. 10A. The placing and/or positioning of the wireless signalemitter/receiver components 1010 a and 1010 b (and/or configuring ofoperations thereof) may be done such that the electromagnetic fieldbetween the dipole antennas may be enhanced in the region between thetwo dipole antennas (shown as region A) and nulled in regions that arenot between the dipole antennas (shown as regions B). For example, thecomponents 1010 a and 1010 b may be placed or configured such that theelectromagnetic fields between the two dipole antennas may reinforceeach other to create a near field effect (in region A), whileconcurrently resulting in cancellation (or substantial reduction) of theelectromagnetic fields in the other regions (in regions B), which maycorrespond to far-field or even intermediate-field ranges.

FIG. 10B is a block diagram that illustrates use of coil based antennasconfigured to provide optimized near-field-communication (NFC) whilereducing the effect of far-field-communication (FFC) for broadbandnear-field communication (BNC), in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 10B, there is a shown a wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1050.

The wireless signal emitter/receiver component 1050 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code for communicating(transmitting and/or receiving) signals wirelessly in a manner thatsupports broadband near-field communication (BNC) with full spectrumcapture (FSC). In particular the wireless signal emitter/receivercomponent 1050 may be adapted and/or configured for optimizednear-field-communication (NFC) operations while reducing the effect offar-field-communication (FFC). As shown in FIG. 10B, the wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1050 may be implemented based on use ofcoils. In this regard, the wireless signal emitter/receiver component1050 may comprise a pair of coils 1052 and 1054, which may becommunicatively coupled to a broadband near-field communication chip1056, which may be operable to control use of the coils 1052 and 1054(in communicating signals).

For example, the coils 1052 and 1054 may serve as antenna coils, wherebysignals may be communicated (wirelessly) to and/or from the wirelesssignal emitter/receiver component 1050 based on configuration and/oradjusting of electromagnetic fields as result of passing of inputs(e.g., electrical currents) through the coils 1052 and 1054. In thisregard, one or more inputs can be utilized to drive the coils 1052 and1054. In a single input implementation, the coils 1052 and 1054 maycomprise (or be connected as) a single wire, thus allowing use of asingle input (e.g., a single electrical current i). The input(s) (e.g.,electrical current(s)) passing through the coils 1052 and 1054 may begenerated and/or controlled by the chip 1056.

In some instances, different implementations may be combined forenhanced performance. For example, in an example embodiment, coils(similar to the coils 1052 and 1054) may be combined with dipole antenna(e.g., the antenna 1002) to enhance the effect of the electromagneticfields in a desired manner. In this regard, the coils may be placedand/or setup in a manner that may result in and/or ensure optimizationof near-field effects between the dipole antenna(s) and/or to cancel thefar-field (or intermediate-field) effects outside the region between thedipole antennas. Such implementation may enable increasing powersubstantially so that the far-field effects may still remain withinparticular criteria (e.g., remain within permissible FCC limits atacceptable distances).

In an example embodiment, BNC/FSC transceiver devices (e.g., the BNC/FSCtransceiver peers 900 a and 900 b may utilize coil based wireless signalemitter/receiver components to achieve optimal NFC performance whilenullifying other signal communications (e.g., FFC and/or intermediaterange communications). For example, the BNC/FSC transceiver peers 900 aand 900 b may incorporate and/or be coupled to wireless signalemitter/receiver components 1060 a and 1060 b, respectively (each ofwhich may be substantially similar to the wireless signalemitter/receiver component 1050). In this regard, the wireless signalemitter/receiver components 1060 a and 1060 b may be placed and/orpositioned near each other (e.g., across a physical barrier, such as theconcrete wall 910 or the drywall 920). For example, the wireless signalemitter/receiver components 1060 a and 1060 b may be placed and/orpositioned such that the components' broadband near-field communicationchips 1066 a and 1066 b are placed on the opposite surfaces of thephysical barrier, with the components' coils (1062 a and 1064 a, and1062 b and 1064 b) extending away from and perpendicular to the oppositesurfaces of the physical barrier. The placing and/or positioning of thewireless signal emitter/receiver components 1060 a and 1060 b (and/orconfiguring of operations thereof) may be done such that theelectromagnetic field between the components 1060 a and 1060 b may beenhanced in the region between the two dipole chips (shown as region A),which may extend across the physical barrier, and is nulled in otherregions (shown as regions B). In this regard, the components 1060 a and1060 b may be placed or configured such that the electromagnetic fieldscorresponding to flow of electrical currents in the coils (1062 a, 1064a, 1062 b and 1064 b) may reinforce each other between the chips (i.e.in region A) to create a near field effect therein, while resulting incancellation (or substantial reduction) of the electromagnetic fields inthe other regions (in regions B), which may correspond to far-field oreven intermediate-field ranges.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart that illustrates example steps for configuringand utilizing signal emitter/reception components that optimizenear-field-communication (NFC) while reducing effect offar-field-communication (FFC), in accordance with an example embodimentof the invention. Referring to FIG. 11, after a start step, in step 1102characteristics of a physical barrier separating two BNC/FSC transceiverpeers may be determined. In this regard, physical barriercharacteristics may comprise type (e.g., drywall, concrete, etc.),thickness, and the like. In step 1104, it may be determined, based onthe characteristics of the physical barrier, signal communicationrequirements needed to achieve optimal near-field performance, acrossthe physical barrier, between the BNC/FSC transceiver peers. Therequirements of the signal communication may dictate, for example, theelectromagnetic fields that would have been utilized between the peersto achieved the desired signal communication profile. In step 1106,requirements (e.g., parameters of electromagnetic field(s)) needed tonull (or at least minimize) signaling in regions other than theregion(s) corresponding to near-field ranges (e.g., far-field and/orintermediate-field ranges) may be determined. In step 1108, signalemission/reception components of the BNC/FSC transceiver peers may bejointly configured based on determined requirements for optimizingnear-field ranges and determined requirements for nullifying or limitingother ranges (e.g., FFC ranges). The signal emission/receptioncomponents may comprise dipole antennas and/or coil antennas, with thejoint configuring comprising selecting characteristics of the antennasor coils, and/or configuring the electrical currents passing therein(which in turn dictate the electromagnetic fields generated (or driving)the antennas or coils. In step 1110, it may be determined whether therehas been any changes in characteristics of physical barriers (e.g.,change in type, thickness, etc.), and the signal emission/receptioncomponents of the BNC/FSC transceiver peers may be reconfigured in thesame manner (i.e. based on determined requirements for optimizing NFCbased signaling while nullifying (or substantially reducing) signalingin other ranges (e.g., in FFC or intermediate-field ranges).

Although this disclosure makes various references to BNC and near-fieldcommunications in general, in some implementations communicationsdescribed above as using near-field communications may also oralternatively use transition zone (distances between near field and farfield) communications and/or far-field communications. Accordingly,aspects of the present invention, including various devices, protocols,and systems described herein using “BNC” or “near-field” modifiers,should be considered as disclosing corresponding transition zone andfair-field devices, protocols, and systems. Therefore, a claim termshould not be construed as being necessarily limited by the terms “BNC”or “near-field” unless such modifiers are explicitly recited in theclaim with respect to such claim term.

Another example embodiment of the invention may provide a machine and/orcomputer readable storage and/or medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for a methodand system for providing an antenna that is optimized fornear-field-communication (NFC) and reduces the effect offar-field-communication (FFC).

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainexample embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present invention without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention notbe limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the presentinvention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: one or more circuits foruse in a first broadband device that is operable to communicate signalsto a second broadband device at a power level that is below a spuriousemissions mask and to transmit the communicated signals over adesignated frequency spectrum band, the one or more circuits beingoperable to: wirelessly communicate signals from the first broadbanddevice to the second broadband device when a barrier separates the firstbroadband device from the second broadband device, wherein: a signaltransmission component of the first broadband device and a signalreception component of the second broadband device are jointlyconfigured to nullify or reduce signals in areas other than a regionbetween the components.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the one ormore circuits are operable to pair the first broadband device with thesecond broadband device.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one ormore circuits are operable to pair the first broadband device with thesecond broadband device using one or more broadband near-fieldcommunication (BNC) protocols.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein each ofthe signal transmission component of the first broadband device and thesignal reception component of the second broadband device comprise oneor more antennas or coils.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the one ormore circuits are operable to configure and/or utilize the one or moreantennas or coils of each of the signal transmission component of thefirst broadband device and the signal reception component of the secondbroadband device to nullify or reduce the signals in the areas otherthan the region between the components by: optimizing electromagneticfield in the region between the one or more antennas or coils of thesignal transmission component of the first broadband device and the oneor more antennas or coils of the signal reception component of thesecond broadband device; and nullifying electromagnetic field in otherregions.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the one or more circuits areoperable to configure or apply the optimization of the electromagneticfields between the one or more antennas or coils of the signaltransmission component of the first broadband device and the one or moreantennas or coils of the signal reception component of the secondbroadband device to reinforce each other to create a near field effect.7. The system of claim 4, wherein the one or more circuits are operableto configure and/or utilize the one or more antennas such as near fieldstored energy near the antennas is larger in relation to the radiatedenergy.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein: the one or more circuits areoperable to align the first broadband device with the second broadbanddevice; and the first broadband device and the second broadband deviceare on opposite sides of the barrier.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe one or more circuits are operable to utilize one or more signalsand/or one or more signal quality indicators to enable the alignment ofthe first broadband device with the second broadband device.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein: one or both of the first broadband deviceand the second broadband wireless device are operable to generate theone or more signals and/or the one or more signal quality indicators;the one or more signals comprises test signals, preambles and pilottones; and the one or more signal quality indicators comprises errorrates, signal to noise ratio, signal to interference plus noise ratio,carrier to noise ratio, carrier to interference noise ratio, errorvector magnitude, and signal strength indicator.
 11. The system of claim8, wherein the one or more circuits are operable to generate visualand/or audio cues by one or both of the first broadband device and thesecond broadband device to aid with the alignment.
 12. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: the one or more circuits are operable to detect usablechannels within a frequency spectrum band designated for use by thefirst broadband device and the second broadband device; and the wirelesscommunication of the signals utilizes one or more of the detected usablechannels.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the one or more circuitsare operable to aggregate a plurality of the detected usable channels,wherein the wirelessly communicating of the signals utilizes at least aportion of the aggregated plurality of the detected usable channels. 14.A method, comprising: in a communication system comprising a firstbroadband device and a second broadband device, wherein each of thefirst broadband device and the second broadband device is operable tocommunicate signals at a power level that is below a spurious emissionsmask and to transmit the communicated signals over a designatedfrequency spectrum band: wirelessly communicating signals from the firstbroadband device to the second broadband device when a barrier separatesthe first broadband device from the second broadband device, wherein: asignal transmission component of the first broadband device and a signalreception component of the second broadband device are jointlyconfigured to nullify or reduce signals in areas other than a regionbetween the components.
 15. The method of claim 14, comprising pairingthe first broadband device with the second broadband device.
 16. Themethod of claim 15, comprising pairing the first broadband device withthe second broadband device using one or more broadband near-fieldcommunication (BNC) protocols.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein eachof the signal transmission component of the first broadband device andthe signal reception component of the second broadband device compriseone or more antennas or coils.
 18. The method of claim 17, comprisingconfiguring and/or utilizing the one or more antennas or coils of eachof the signal transmission component of the first broadband device andthe signal reception component of the second broadband device to nullifyor reduce the signals in the areas other than the region between thecomponents by: optimizing electromagnetic field in the region betweenthe one or more antennas or coils of the signal transmission componentof the first broadband device and the one or more antennas or coils ofthe signal reception component of the second broadband device and,nullifying electromagnetic field in other regions.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, comprising configuring or applying the optimization of theelectromagnetic fields between the one or more antennas or coils of thesignal transmission component of the first broadband device and the oneor more antennas or coils of the signal reception component of thesecond broadband device to reinforce each other to create a near fieldeffect.
 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more circuits areoperable to configure and/or utilize the one or more antennas such asnear field stored energy near the antennas is larger in relation to theradiated energy.
 21. The method of claim 13, comprising aligning thefirst broadband device with the second broadband device, wherein thefirst broadband device and the second broadband device are on oppositesides of the barrier.
 22. The method of claim 21, comprising utilizingone or more signals and/or one or more signal quality indicators toenable the aligning of the first broadband device with the secondbroadband device.
 23. The method of claim 22, comprising generating byone or both of the first broadband device and the second broadbanddevice the one or more signals and/or the one or more signal qualityindicators, wherein: the one or more signals comprises test signals,preambles and pilot tones; and the one or more signal quality indicatorscomprises error rates, signal to noise ratio, signal to interferenceplus noise ratio, carrier to noise ratio, carrier to interference noiseratio, error vector magnitude, and signal strength indicator.
 24. Themethod of claim 21, comprising generating visual and/or audio cues byone or both of the first broadband device and the second broadbanddevice to aid with the aligning.
 25. The method of claim 13, comprisingdetecting usable channels within a frequency spectrum band designatedfor use by the first broadband device and the second broadband device,wherein the wireless communication of the signals utilizes one or moreof the detected usable channels.
 26. The method of claim 25, comprisingaggregating a plurality of the detected usable channels, wherein thewirelessly communicating of the signals utilizes at least a portion ofthe aggregated plurality of the detected usable channels.